Summary

Tribal decks have had varied success in Modern. Merfolk comes and goes in popularity and success, while Elves is more of a new-comer to the Modern spotlight. However, Goblins has rarely seen play in Modern, but it could be the aggressive, tribal-focused answer to this metagame.

At 2 mana we have Goblin Piledriver and Mogg War Marshal. Piledriver’s reprint that made it Modern legal got many people excited, but it’s barely seen play. In this deck, however, it’s an all star. It hits harder than any one individual goblin and rewards you for playing out your hand. The protection from blue clause is less relevant in this format than some in the past, but it’s still relevant from time to time.

The top end of this deck comes in a few different forms. Goblin Chieftain is a powerful beater that helps juice up the goblins you’ve already played, while letting you turn new ones sideways immediately. Goblin Bushwhacker and Reckless Bushwhacker, however, are one time pump effects for your team, but their incredible burst damage potential makes them very valuable, even if you’re not pushing through enough damage to kill the opponent.

Goblin Grenade and Lightning Bolt are the burn spells that this deck has access to. Generally, these decks can struggle to break through the opponent’s tough creature defense, or simply not put enough damage on the opponent fast enough and it dies to the opponent’s combo. These burn spells help with both, as they can double as creature removal spells, or can go over the top to finish the opponent off. Either way, their flexibility is very welcome in this deck.